It’s time to address a scriptural controversy that has been brewing in our church for some time.  I am being a little silly of course, because it is not actually a controversy, but a good discussion that has been going on among some of those who serve in ministry with me (Pastor James) on Sunday mornings.  The question is whether we can call anything “good.” For instance, can we call a song a “good song,” or can we tell someone they did a “good job?”  Most of us use the word “good” rather flippantly because it seems to work in many occasions.  “Good,” like the word “love,” can refer to any range of things from our opinion of a slice of pizza to how we feel in our relationship with God.

The reason the question arises is because of an episode in the gospels in which a rich young ruler comes up to Jesus and address him as “good teacher.” The episode appears in Matthew 19, Mark 10 and Luke 18; though interestingly in Matthew’s version the man asks what “good thing” he must do to have eternal life rather than calling Jesus good (Matt 19:16).  Jesus responds by asking why the man would dare call anything good but God alone.  The question that has been raised in our church is whether or not Jesus commands us not to use the word “good” to describe anything beside God

In my reading of the text, speaking specifically of the version in Luke, Jesus intention is not to prohibit the use of the word, but instead force the rich young man to realize his need of God’s grace in light of God’s holiness and his own sinfulness.  The man in his mind seems to think he does not need anything from God.  He believes in God and seems to have done his best to honor God, but still Jesus seems to move right past those things to get at the man’s motives.  The man was really trying to prove that he himself was good, that he had passed some test and deserved God’s reward or blessing.  Therefore he did not really need God, but simply wanted God as a source of affirmation of his own goodness as a person and God’s blessings for what he himself had accomplished.

Jesus rightfully crushes that false sense of pride and accomplishment and points instead to the man’s ultimate failure to live up to God’s goodness and holiness and therefore the man’s need for God’s grace and forgiveness.  As Paul says: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do,” (Ephesians 2:8-10).

I believe Paul’s teaching is firmly rooted in the teachings of Jesus. In Matthew 12, Jesus uses the word good to describe the works we do, seemingly contradicting his own teaching to the rich man. In verse 35 Jesus states, “Good people bring good things out of the good stored up in them, and evil people bring evil things out of the evil stored up in them,” (TNIV).  The idea is the same as the teaching by Jesus in his words to the young ruler. It is not that we can’t do good, but that the good we do comes from the good stored up in us that we have received from God.  We do good imperfectly because we are sinners constantly in need of God’s grace, but we do good works because we are made in the image of God and redeemed by the grace and mercy offered by God.

As Jesus teaches us in Matthew 7:9-11, “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”  Jesus points out that we are capable of giving good gifts, particularly to those we love and care for, but ultimately we are a pale reflection of God’s goodness, and that our good works come out of us because we are created in God’s image, but still we are not able to do enough good to save ourselves from our brokenness and sinfulness.  God is the ultimate source of good that fills every person and causes every good work or good thing.

Therefore, I believe that we can do and create good things.  Our songs can be good; our actions can be good and so on.  I also believe that a non-Christian can do good works for others as we often see in the charitable efforts of many non-Christian organizations, because all humanity is created in the image of God.  However, their good is diminished in some way by the fact that their good is not done to honor Jesus Christ, but some other thing, purpose or idea.  So I argue that we can and should call the things we see others doing, especially other Christians, good and wonderful, because they come out of the goodness that God has put in us.  We reflect God’s image, goodness, and grace when we create good things and do good works. As Christians, we should then recognize and celebrate the good being produced by God’s people.